Trail of comfort
by Naidoo
Summary: A request by Smart Kira - who wanted an Alvez/Prentiss pairing. Luke learns that not every case is as easy to deal with. Lucky for him there is someone who will provide comfort


_So… something different. I am sort of (totally) into Alvez and Garcia, but someone asked me whether I could write Luke with Prentis. Since I hardly back away from a challenge I thought "Let's do it". Though I have to admit I hardly ever (make that never) write Prentiss as a main character, so she might be slightly (or totally) OOC. Apologies if that is the case. The idea about the story was in my head for a while, but for different pairings. Since I hadn't gotten around writing it yet, I figured I might as well go with that idea for Prentis and Alvez._

 _This is for you Smart Kira, who asked for the pairing…_

 _Enjoy_

* * *

It was a day from hell. No, scratch that, hell didn't even quite cover it. When he agreed to start working as a profiler for the BAU he sure as hell hadn't imagined these kind of cases and these kind of days. Sure, in his previous job he had seen plenty of bad and gruesome stuff. But the stuff he saw with the BAU on a daily basis was worse. A lot worse.

He hadn't thought about quitting yet, but he was at a stage where he couldn't rule it out either. He wasn't a quitter and usually rolled with whatever you threw at him, but even he had limits.

Unlocking his front door he expected to hear and see Roxy, tail wiggling and being all happy for his return. But she wasn't in sight and one look at his alarm system told him it wasn't active – which was odd, seeing he had definitely activated it before he left a few days prior.

Reaching for his weapon he relaxed moment later when he spotted a trail of clothing leading up the stairs. A very familiar trail of clothing. Emily apparently had decided to break into his house.

It probably was less of a break in, seeing she had a key and also knew the code to disable the alarm. But usually she made a habit of calling first.

Emily had decided to sit this one out - lucky her – but surly had heard the gory details from either JJ or Garcia. Probably doing the math of the case and the outcome, Emily knew in what kind of mood he must been once he was back home. So she seemingly sat out to change that.

A smile tug at his lips – the first one in the past few days. Usually that was Garcia's doing since she had a wicked sense of humor even in the darkest of times. Dumping his go-next to the door and throwing his keys on the small table next to the door he went in search of his burglar, though the trail up the stairs gave him a good idea and a direction he needed to focus his attention on.

First were here shoes, laying a few feet away from each other, the deep red soles telling him she paid more for these shoes than any man would ever understand or find necessary. Up the stairs followed her blazer that was only a heap of fabric and was followed by her suit pants. The train went on with her blouse and had reached the top of his stairs now. Stockings were next – first one than a few feet onwards the other. Wedges between the door of his bedroom was her deep red bra and he hoped to know what he'd find once opening his bedroom door further.

Somehow he had no problem imaging Emily in his house, climbing slowly stair by stair, losing pieces of clothing just as slowly and sensual. And now he wished even more he had been here and not at that gruesome case that didn't have a happy ending after all. Here he at least would have been able to participate in some sort of happy ending.

Luke stopped in front of his bedroom door, a smile on his lips. He had long forgotten about the horrible pictures of the last few days and was looking forwards to the immediate future – more precisely the next few minutes and hours.

Pushing the door slowly open he found Prentiss exactly where he had expected her to be – in his bed, a sheet loosely around her naked body. The matching panties to her bra were a few feet away from the bed.

Emily and he were a perfect match. Neither of them had actually looked for anyone and they found it each other more by mistake and coincidence. He had to admit her profiling him on her first day was anything but appealing but he long learned since then that it was quite normal for profilers and that they just couldn't help themselves. She understood him better than any other woman so far and he felt a certain relief that he could told to her about what he had done in what seemed a previous life, what he had seen, what he had endured on his missions. She knew he couldn't tell her everything, but she never pushed anyway. They worked like a charm and kept their relationship between themselves. He knew that the no-fraternization rule was a rather grey area, but somehow neither of them had any desire of making what they had very public.

He stood at the foot of the bed for a while, looking down at Emily for a long time. After a while and several stirs on her part she turned from her position on her stomach to face him still standing.

"Hey," she said in a sleepy voice.

"Hey yourself," he answered, smiling. "I see you decided on breaking and entering…"

"Well, you gave me his keys and the code for the alarm," she laughed back and he needed that. He needed to hear laughter and happiness. He needed someone to remind him not all was bad in this world. She turned slightly, giving Luke a good view of her backside when the sheet shifted and bared her more than she probably had anticipated.

"Somehow this was planned differently," she mussed more to herself, letting the sheet where it was – or rather wasn't. "I had expected you actually quite a while ago," she finally said, not sounding mad, just… curious at best. "I remember Penelope calling me when you guys had touched down. What took you so long?"

That would explain her trail of clothes. She had expected him quite a lot sooner and probably for a lot more than sleeping.

"Rossi and I went for drinks," he just said, seeing Emily nod. She probably knew how hard it was to say no to Rossi and Rossi probably somehow sensed that Luke had had issues with the case.

A moment later he got out of his shoes and joined her in his bed, not bothering to get out of his clothes. He laid down next to her and pulled her into his arms, needing the comfort she somehow managed to give without doing much.

"I guess I don't have to ask how you are?" he heard Emily's soft and quiet voice.

"Did you ever doubt your decision? Joining the BAU I mean?" he asked serious and he wasn't even sure what answer would make him feel better.

"Luke, there will be cases that are… tough. On you. On your ethics. On the team. On… everyone and everything. It is normal to question it to be honest. The moment you stop questioning it and people… that usually is the moment to pack up your things and move to a new job."

"So you saying me questioning everything is a good thing?" he asked almost smiling again.

"I guess so. I remember that everyone, Rossi, Morgan, JJ and of course Penelope have their moments every now and then. Mostly it's certain cases that hit a bit too close to home for most though."

Emily shifted slightly in his arms, and moved, tugging his shirt out of his pants and a moment later he felt her hand travelling under the hem of his shirt and up his torso, her warm hand laying flat against his chest.

"It will get better, you know. The cases won't be easier or the outcome less outraging, but you'll learn to deal with it as bad as it sounds…"

He would, he know he would. Mainly due to his best dealing mechanism laying next to him engulfed in his arms right now. And as long as she was here with him, leaving him trails to follow, he knew he'd be ok somehow. Sooner – or rather later.

 **THE END**


End file.
